How Would You Do in a ‘Free School’?

By HOLLY EPSTEIN OJALVO AND KATHERINE SCHULTEN

 

At the Manhattan Free School, students "do not receive grades, take tests or have to do anything, really, that they do not feel like doing." Teachers there believe that students learn best when they direct their own education, so though there are classes, students can play video games all day if they like. Would you want to attend a school like this? If not, why not? If so, what do you think you would do with your time? Do you agree that you learn best when you direct your own education? Why or why not?

In the column  "Play-Doh? Calculus? At the Manhattan Free School, Anything Goes," Susan Dominus writes:

At the Manhattan Free School, which opened in 2008 and follows a model that first gained fame at A. S. Neill's Summerhill School in England, educators believe that students learn best when they direct their own education. Classes are held, but if a student wants to play video games or model with Play-Doh all day, so be it — even if that student is, say, 17.

… "It comes down to trust," Ms. Werner said, "the trust that given time, they'll find their passions, and when they do, they'll be eager to learn."

Students and faculty members debate and vote on all matters of school policy, but the grown-ups are outnumbered: The school has two full-time teachers, and relies on parents and other volunteers who believe in the program to fill the gaps (including calculus, if a student were to want to learn it).

Students: Tell us how you think you would do in a school like this. What would you do all day? Are you self-motivated? Do you agree that "the flip side of freedom is responsibility"? What balance of freedom and structure do you think would benefit you best for the purposes of learning?